May 25 – The BBC has been forced to make a public apology for broadcasting the phrase ‘Manchester United are rubbish’ during a live news bulletin that has gone viral.
The gaffe appeared on the BBC’s breaking news ticker, popping up at the bottom of the screen on Tuesday during a tennis update.
Later in the morning, presenter Annita McVeigh apologised to United fans and said the mistake had occurred as someone was learning how to operate the ticker and was “writing random things not in earnest”.
“So apologies if you saw that and you were offended and you’re a fan of Manchester United,” she said.
A BBC statement added: “There was a technical glitch during training with our test ticker, which rolled over to live programming for a few seconds. We apologised for any offence caused on air.”
Manchester United, who have not won any silverware since 2017, finished sixth in the top-flight table with their lowest points tally of the Premier League era. Their new manager, Erik ten Hag, was formally unveiled on Monday after leaving Ajax.
Contact the writer of this story at andrew.warshaw@insideworldfootball